CANACONA: Poor income, bleak future and stress have forced farmers to abandon pristine fields in Canacona.
The lush green fields have now turned into barren agricultural lands and a place for stray cattle to feed on. There are others who have taken advantage of the uncultivated fields and have been dumping mud and debris here.
Once people in Canacona taluka were solely dependent on agriculture and during the last two decades also fields were being cultivated in Kindlem, Pansulem, Char Rasta, Palolem, Delem and Chaudi.
However over the years despite the government providing various schemes and subsidies to farmers, people here have been shying away from agriculture.
“Since most of the agricultural land in the Canacona is barren, it has become a grazing ground for stray cattle,” said Ulhas Gaonkar, a local farmer.
Locals and farmers alike have demanded for the government to adopt a definite policy to sort out the issue as some farmers are secretly planning to erect buildings on the agricultural lands.